Munster SHC Final: Limerick finish strongly

Munster SHC Final

Limerick 1-21 Cork 2-17

By Stephen Barry at SuperValu Páirc Uí Chaoimh

The explosion of joy from John Kiely and his Limerick players at full-time showed just how much it meant to regain the Mick Mackey Cup after an out-and-out battle with Cork.

The Treaty reversed their penalty shoot-out defeat of last year to claim their seventh Munster title in eight years, and 26th in total, with Peter Casey striking the 72nd-minute winner.

The final whistle didn’t sound for another six minutes as Gearóid Hegarty hit the post with an insurance-score attempt. Patrick Collins took Cork’s last free short, but James Owens called time before Tim O’Mahony dispatched the final effort, which dropped short.

The winners trailed from the eighth minute until the 70th, but came good when it mattered most.

For Cork, it was a first-ever Munster final defeat on home soil on the 12th such occasion, while their 12-game unbeaten streak at the Páirc since 2024 also fell.
The Rebels didn’t manage to score from play after Brian Hayes’s 38th-minute goal and raised no point from play from the half-hour mark onwards.
They head for an All-Ireland quarter-final against Offaly, while Limerick take the direct route to the semi-finals.
This decider was Cork’s 14th straight sold-out championship match. In just over two years, the Treaty and themselves have attracted seven full houses for their matches between here, the Gaelic Grounds, and Croke Park.
Limerick made one late change to the published team with Shane O’Brien coming in for Adam English.
After a moment’s silence for one of Cork’s greatest-ever dual players, Denis Coughlan, who passed away on Friday aged 80, the men in red began with the wind into the Blackrock End.
Diarmuid Healy was prominent as he found wide-open pockets of space three times in the early exchanges. He picked off one point and teed up Brian Hayes for a goal chance, which whizzed over the bar.
By then, Limerick already had an opportunity of their own. Aaron Gillane turned past his most familiar of all opponents, Seán O’Donoghue, and laid off for Cathal O’Neill, who was denied by the advancing Collins.
Cork made the first big move in the eighth minute. Under Mark Coleman’s sideline cut, Brian Hayes was brought down in the square by Kyle Hayes and Owens indicated a penalty. Alan Connolly handed the sliotar to Coleman and the wing-back buried his second penalty of the provincial series for 1-2 to 0-2.
After his early scare, O’Donoghue gained some significant joy from his jousts with Gillane. He fended off the corner-forward as Cork countered for a pair of Tim O’Mahony placed balls, taking their scoring streak to 1-3 without reply and their lead to five.
Limerick were right back in touch by the 16th minute. Diarmaid Byrnes’ long-range free dropped short and Hegarty caught the ball to bounce to the net.
There was the minimum between the sides, 1-4 to 1-3, but Limerick couldn’t get level. William Buckley, Healy, and O’Mahony bolstered Cork’s lead.
Nickie Quaid produced his first incredible save of the afternoon in the 25th minute, somehow diverting Healy’s rocket around the post. It was the first Cork shot which didn’t raise a flag.
They soon added four in a row through an O’Mahony 65, a brilliant Buckley point, a Connolly free, and an inspirational Robert Downey score for 1-11 to 1-5 on the half-hour.
Crucially, Limerick hauled back four points into the wind before the break. Aidan O’Connor, who had earlier missed two frees, nailed his final pair of the half, while O’Neill and O’Brien split the posts.
It was 1-11 to 1-9 at the break and Tom Morrissey, an early sub for the injured O’Neill, brought it back to one on the resumption.
After a Connolly free, Cork leapt five ahead in the 38th minute. Heads-up passes from Coleman and Tommy O’Connell got Brian Hayes motoring towards goal. After being knocked to the ground by Barry Nash, Hayes managed to bat the sliotar to the net for 2-12 to 1-10.
Collins pulled off two fine saves in the subsequent stretch to deny O’Brien and O’Connor, but Limerick still left with two O’Connor placed balls and a Morrissey score to cancel out the goal.
With O’Donoghue on a yellow card, he was called ashore, soon followed by Gillane, who was held scoreless.
Remarkably, Morrissey was the only man to point from play in the second half until the 63rd minute. In that time, Connolly converted three frees, Byrnes two, and O’Connor one.
There were a further series of saves. Quaid mustered a superb block on a Coleman bouncer, while Cormac O’Brien stopped a Casey attempt.
O’Connor slotted from play in the 63rd minute to leave the minimum between them. Connolly doubled the lead before Hegarty, with his first touch since being moved into the full-forward line, was charged down by Collins to spoil a point-blank goal chance.
Byrnes’ 65 was followed by Hegarty choosing to point when surging towards goal to level for the first time in 62 minutes.
Casey came up trumps at the death. He fended off Cormac O’Brien for the lead score heading into added time.
After a tap-over Connolly free, Hegarty broke the ball to Casey for the winner.

Scorers for Limerick: Aidan O’Connor 0-8 (5f, 2 65s); Gearóid Hegarty 1-1; Diarmaid Byrnes (2f, 1 65); Peter Casey 0-3 each; Tom Morrissey 0-2; Barry Nash, Cian Lynch, Cathal O’Neill, Shane O’Brien 0-1 each.
Scorers for Cork: Alan Connolly 0-7 (7f); Brian Hayes 1-1; Tim O’Mahony 0-4 (3 65s, 1f); Mark Coleman 1-0 (pen); Diarmuid Healy, William Buckley 0-2 each; Robert Downey 0-1.

LIMERICK: Nickie Quaid; Seán Finn, Dan Morrissey, Barry Nash; Diarmaid Byrnes, William O’Donoghue, Kyle Hayes; Cian Lynch, Darragh O’Donovan; Gearóid Hegarty, Aidan O’Connor, Cathal O’Neill; Aaron Gillane, Shane O’Brien, Peter Casey.
Subs: Tom Morrissey for O’Neill (35, inj), Adam English for Gillane (49), Mike Casey for Nash (66-69, temp), David Reidy for O’Brien (66).
CORK: Patrick Collins; Damien Cahalane, Niall O’Leary, Seán O’Donoghue; Mark Coleman, Robert Downey, Eoin Downey; Tim O’Mahony, Tommy O’Connell; Barry Walsh, Shane Barrett, Diarmuid Healy; Alan Connolly, Brian Hayes, William Buckley.
Subs: Cormac O’Brien for O’Donoghue (42), Séamus Harnedy for Walsh (66), Hugh O’Connor for O’Connell (70+2).

Referee: James Owens (Wexford).